Inclination indicating device



Sept. 21, 1948. F, H, 5cl-[M101- INCLINATION INDICATING DEVICE 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Fred H Schmidt Filed July 12. 1945 IN V EN TOR.

atentecl Sept. 21, 1948 UNITED STATE INCLINATION INDICATING DEVICE,

Fred H. Schmidt, Dallas, Tex., assigner, `and mesne assignments, toEastman Survey Company, Denver,

of Delaware by direct Oil Well Colo., a corporation Application July 12,1945, serial No. 604,653

'z claims. (ci. :i3-205.50l

This invention relates to new and useful `improvements in inclinationindicating devices.

It is welll known that in the drilling of wells `it is not unusual forthe drill bit to be deflected from its intended course during thedrilling operation andit has become the general practice to employvarious types of inclination indicating instruments for periodicallychecking the angle of deviation from vertical ofthe well bore as it isbeing drilled. l Certain of these instruments employ various types ofphotographic means while others employ mechanical marking devices whichare controlled bysuitable timing mechanisms to cause operation of theinstruments to produce the `recordsat the desired elevation within thewell bore. The use of an inclination indicating instrument during thedrilling operation has become recognized as substantially essential toproper well drilling...

It isone of the objects of the `present invention to provide an improveddevice which will accurately indicate and record the deviation or driftof a well bore hole from the vertical, whereby the drilling may beperformed in accordance with the indications obtained to maintain thedrilling in a desired course.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved inclination ordrift indicator of a mechanical type whereby the use of photographicpaper, together with its inherent disadvantages, is eliminated.

An important object of the invention is to providean improvedinclination indicating instrument wherein a disk or other element isadapted to be marked by a mechanical marking means,` with the positionof the latter being controlled by la` pendulum or plumb bob; theactuation of `the marking element being controlled by a suitable timingmechanism, whereby the device may be preset and lowered into the wellbore and the marking elementA automatically actuated when the `devicereaches the desired elevation within the said bore. e

A particular object of the invention is to provide an improved driftindicator, of the character described, wherein the marking element isnormally held in an inactive or raised position by means of a magnetwhich is normally acting thereon, together with means for removing theelement from the magnetic inuence of the magnet, whereby said elementmay move downwardly into engagement with the disk or record to therebymark the same and indicate thedegree of deviation of the Well bore atthe point at which the element is actuated.

Still another object ofthe invention is to provide an instrument of thecharacter described having a movable magnet controlledby a timingmechanism; said magnet normally holding the marking element in aninactive position by means of its magnetic iniiuence and reieasing themarking element from its influence upon movement of the magnet to allowactuation or downward movement of said element by gravity. e e

The construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafterdescribed together with other features of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing speciiication and by reference to the accompanying drawing,wherein an example of the invention is shown, andy wherein:

Figure l is a view partly in section and partly in elevationof aninclination indicating instrument, constructed in accordance with theinvention, and showing the marking element in an inactive position, e i

vFigure 2 is a similar view with the magnet separated from the plumb bobassembly and with the marking eiement engaged with the record disk,

Figure 3 is a view of the lower portion of the instrument andillustrating the position of the plumb .bob and marking element when theinstrument is lowered in an inclined well bore,

Figure 4 is anfenlarged, horizontal, cross-sectional view taken on theline 4 4 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is an enlarged, horizontal, cross-sectional view taken on theline 5-5 of Figure l,

Figure 6 is an enllarged detaii oi the upper portion of the plumb bobassembly and illustrating one of the frictional holding members, and,

Figure 7 is a plan View of the record disk.

InV the drawings the numeralA ID designates a tubular housingor casingwhichiis constructed of an upper `tubular section A, a lowertubularsection B land an intermediate connecting section C. A transverselyextending supporting element I I is mounted withinthe housing or casingand is preferably clamped between an internal shouider I2 formed inthelower portion of the upper section A and the extreme upper edge of theintermediate section C. A timing mechanism or watch I3 is disposedwithin the upper section A and rests upon the support II. The timingmechanism or watch may be of any desired construction Iand is providedwith an operating arm I4 which is mounted upon a shaft I5, said shaftthe lower end of an operatinglrodrll. K,Ther-rod i9 extends upwardlythroughanlopeningzllin.

the transversely extending suppprt il .andchasglts extreme upper endformedwithacam headi.

The cam surface 22 of the head 2| is located in theV path of theactuating arm Msc that as said arm rotates in a counter-clockwisedirection "6Fl-gums- 1 and 2) due to its operation by thetimingmechanisin, said arm will engage the cam surface to.impartalifting to .the operating rodi. Asthe rod I9 is raised themagnetitwillberaisedwith- .lo 4.the housing from .the position .shown inFiguretltolthatsliowrl.in,Fisure- The upper, portion of therodlilistglldoilrrits vertical .movement by an angular guidera'il 2,3lwhicbQls secured to theouterplateofjthetimne mechanism and `downwald.moremeot .of .the rod delimited by an arlmllarliange oroollargt whichis secured to saidlrodand whichgis adapted to e`ngage the upper surlaeeof .the suorortll .Fieure .1). ,lay orooerlyettlnetbe timrlgmeollensm it.is obvious .that .the .time .interval which .elanses between the...setting and `the .aotilal Vlifting of .the roo .lo and magnet itmerlo-e .Controlled V11omemloe-r iD wliiohlis mounted withnoibloekitlocated Within the ,easing .'Iil at theiqiotloetweeo the intermediatesection C and `the lower, section .Borsele easing. Therlok-uo membercomprises e .generally orliodrioel pour '26 hevige :itsloweroortiontooered With-.lis .extremeglowerend rounded es Shown et??lheloody is :moverlo-le Within e chamber '25a in the block anditslowerwen dproieots downwardly .throught a .reduced ,opening "23 lo the blooto to .enlarged .annular `flange -2e .is preferably for'foeoloteerelWlth'tihe-uroerrortion of the body and above theange, a cylindri- Cel`bead t@ Whloll is secured to or integral' with said flange extendsupwardly througha reduced opening di in the top of the-block; A'Theenlarged llange ,38 vand bodyjportion -v' Vis movable within the chamber#25d and a flight coil spring t2l which surroundsjthe `body @tand whichris connedbetween the-underside of ther flange *29 and "thebottom ofthechamberconstantl'y urges the member lDupwardly towarlthe magnet 18. f

fIt-willbe evident that `when the lhead -3'0 of the member D is withinthe -field of the magnet 1,8,

said 'hoed vwill -be drawn `vinto yContact withwsaid magnet. As themagnet i8 ris `moved upwardly away from the head 35i to a position wherethe `head is outside of its ymagnetic influence, the memb er D will-move /downwardlywithin-the block it?. "The coil spring v322 is lnotsu-iicient to support the weight ofthe Lmember and therefore as .soon asthe magnet I S `istli-ftedtorelease the head the *member will -mo-vedownwardly. It is noted that upward movement vof the body 2S vis limitedby the external shoulder 2 9 striking the upper end of the chamber "25awithin -thesupporting block 2,5. `It11s- 1: referable that v`the pick-"up member be constructed of a material capable o f conducting amagnetic current rand yet not v .2amble .of retelolnejrermeoeot`maar..retiem Vwhen Y.

'the magnet i8 is separated therefrom,

The pick-up member 26 has its lower end coacting with a marking plunger33 which plunger is slidable within a tubular plumb bob 34, the latterbeing disposed within the lower section B of the casing. The upper endof the plumb bob is v.tiered.,.outil/army. as Shown. et .35 and .is.mounted fup'on the usual :gimbal qringsaa, y'whereby the plumb bob mayundergo universal movement within the casing. The upper end of themarking plunger 33 is rounded as indicated at Sii and is Enormallysincontact with the rounded lower end 27 .of ,the pick-.up element 26.

Thus, when the emagnet iswengaging the pick-up member the`.maglltisingis .conducted through the member 26 Vand to ctheniarkingplunger 33, whereby said plunger is held in its raised or liftedposition. In

sucht-position the lower pointed end 31 of the plunger is spaced above arecord disk 38 which is supported within a .recess 39 of a, disk carrierorsupport Ylill. The support 40 ishin the form of an inverted capwhichthreads i-ntothelowerend of the secttion B of the casi-ngtto closeLthef'lower `end offsaid-casing. Accidental displacement of :the markingplunger 33 Afrom its contact :with -the vpieken-p member -26ispreventedbya pair-ofepivotedihold- Aing elements-or dogs 4|. 4As-lisclearly shown-'in Figures 5 and-Geach-dogris pivoted oni-a shaft v11'24and has its outer upperendffrictionallyengaging lth'eoutersur'faceofthe-plunger 33. A spring 43 israssooiated with A'each/dog andconstantly Aurges the -same inwardly vinto engagement with the plunger.The frictional engagement Lof -lthe' dog-s with said plungerpreventunduevibration there- .of during lowering of 'the v1instrument th-rough La:Well bore and thereby 4.accidental -disengagement of the plunger Afrom'the `pick-up member 26 is prevented.

It will be apparent that when-the magn-etiris lifted todisengagethetpick-upmemberpthe magnetism xwhich i is normally.. conducted`throughsaid member fis` dissipated :and :the marking )plunger vand.member may :move :longitudinally `downwardly-.within ithe casing. "This:moves th'efsharp pointed end :3110i fthe :marking 'plunger 33 tintocontact withxthe-:recorddisk,38 to formeafdotor mark M .(ligure .575):on said disk. 5T-his .mark f will, of fpourse, nbe in accordance ywiththe `position of orlsing :plunger fwitbin .the teasing .as .oon- Vby thenositoniofithe .nlumbfholo- The disk may be of such materialpjbegreadunmarked-by the metallic .enel .of ...plunger or A,desired l.the tiplof ,the plungermay` Ab e of aspescialIllalkingmaterial. I.fthecasin `Withina ytruly yerticalbore, the plumb.bob 34' .andplunger 33Will be aligned wit'otlielorieitudinal axis ofthe casing angl 'the markmade'by saidplunger will 1be at lthe center ofthe `disk 38,; however,`if the casing ls Iwithin --an inclined bore, said casing will ybe:inclined -from a vertical positionibuttheplumb fbob 3e will thang'vertically `so that the 'marking fpoint. :317 of :the vplunger will beoil center .0f :the Ldiskoas indicated inFigmcefS.. Thefamount ordegreeof misalignment of the marking-'tendieren nlunaerwltbthe dlsk'will beaooordaooe with theleeg-reeof inclination .of the instrument ,andtherefore, ,of y.the well here Thus, wbensthe marking plunger is..actuatedthe markfM -formed thereby ,will be representative hof thenumber .of 'degrees ioiiinolinetion .of the Well Vbore .at .the .ele-

Vatlon'that'tho.reoord'ismafle- ""Theopera'tion of the device 'isbelieved tojbe obvious; The `'partsareasseirrbgled as shown in ,Figure landthe timing mechanism i8 is -settp to assure suiiicient time for theinstrument to be lowered to the `elevation at whicha record is to bemade. Assumingthat it requires 30minutes for the arm I4 to make onecomplete revolution and further assuming that l5 minutes will berequired to lower the instrument to the desired elevation, the arm IIIwould be set in approximately the position shown indotted lines inFigure l. In such position it would require approximately minutes beforesaid arm, moving in -a counterclockwise direction would engage the camsurface 22 and accomplish a lifting of the magnet rod I9. After settingci the timing mechanism the instrument is lowered into the well to theposition at which the record is to be made and is allowed to remain atrest at this point.

In the event that the bore is inclined at this elevation, theinstrument. will also be inclined and the plumb bob and `plunger willhang vertically sothatthe marking end 31 of saidfplunger is located oficenter of the disk 38. During the lowering operation the `frictionalengagement of the spring pressed dogs 4I with the plunger 33 willprevent undue vibration thereof and since the magnet IB engages thepick-up member 26, the plunger 33 is held in a raised or liftedposition.

As the actuating arm rotates into engagement with the cam surface 22 ofthe actuating rod I9, said rod is lifted upwardly to raise the magnet I8upwardly away from the pick-up member 26.

Upward movement of the pick-up member is prevented by the engagement ofits external flange 29 with the upper end of the chamber 25a of thesupporting block and continued upward movement of the magnet separatessaid magnet and the pick-up member suiiiciently to move the latter outof the iniiuence of said magnet. When this occurs, the pick-up member26, together with the marking plunger 33 moves downwardly and thiscauses the point of the marking plunger to mark the recording disk. Suchmarking as has been explained indicates the degree of inclination of thewell bore at the elevation that the record is made.

The marking plunger remains in engagement with the disk until theactuating arm rotates sufiiciently to disengage the cam surface 22,which position of said arm is indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2. Asthe arm I4 disengages the cam surface, the actuating rod I9 is loweredby gravity, whereby the magnet I8 is again moved downwardly to theposition shown in Figure l and this position again places the pick-upmember 26 within the field of said magnet. Thus, the pickup member israised into engagement with the magnet and since said element conductsthe magnetic current, the plunger 33 is again lifted and the partsreturn to the position shown in Figure l. The instrument is then removedfrom the well and during such rem-oval the plunger 33 is maintained outof engagement with or spaced above the disk 38.

It will be evident that the instrument provides a simple type of driftindicator which is sturdy in construction and which comprises a minimumnumber of parts. The device does not employ any photographic diskswhereby the inherent disadvantages thereof, such as the necessity ofdeveloping said disks, are eliminated. Although a permanent magnet isillustrated it is apparent that an electro-magnet could be employed andthe timing mechanism utilized to actuate a switch for closing theelectrical circuit to such magnet. The use of the pick-up member 26which is disposed between the magnet 1I8 and the plunger provides anarrangement whereby there is substantialiy no resistance: to themovement of said plunger ascontrolled by the plumbbob and in this mannera very accurate indication will be obtained.

, The foregoing description of ltheinvention is explanatory'thereof andvarious changes in the size, shape and materials, as well asin thedetails of` the illustrated construction may be` made, within the scopeof the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

o What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:`

l. An inclination `indicating device including, a casing adapted to belowered through a well bore, a record disk mounted in the lower portionof the casing, a longitudinally movable marking element above the diskand adapted to move downwardly into engagement therewith to mark thesame, means for mounting said element to undergo universal `movementwithin the casing whereby its position relative to the center of thedisk is controlled by gravity, a permanent magnet mounted to undergolongitudinal movement within the casing and adapted to act upon themarking element for normally maintaining the same in a raised positionspaced above the disk, and means for imparting movement to said magnetto remove the marking element from the influence thereof and therebyallow said element to drop by gravity into engagement with the disk tomark the same.

2. An inclination indicating device as set forth in claim l, wherein thelast named means also functions to again move the magnet to reestablishits influence on said marking element to lift the same after the markingoperation has been completed.

3. An inclination indicating instrument as set forth in claim 1, whereinthe last named means is controlled by a timing mechanism, whereby themarking element may be actuated at any desired predetermined time.

4. An inclination indicating instrument including, a casing adapted tobe lowered within a well bore, a record disk mounted in the lowerportion of the casing, a tubular plumb bob suspended for universalmovement within the casing above said disk, a marking element mounted inthe plumb bob and movable longitudinally therethrough, said elementbeing normally spaced above the disk and movable downwardly intoengagement with the disk to mark the same, a pick-up member mounted forlongitudinal movement within the casing and having its lower endengaging the upper end of the marking element, a permanent magnet abovethe pick-up member and also movable longitudinally within the casing,said magnet normally engaging the pick-up member and through themagnetic current conducted by said member normally maintaining themarking element in. a raised position, and means for raising themagnetaway from the pick-up member to remove said member and the markingelement from its magnetic influence, whereby the marking element maydrop into engagement with the disk to mark the same, such marking beingin accordance with the position oi the marking element as controlled bythe plumb bob.

5. An inclination indicator as set forth in claim 4. together with meansfor returning the magnet into engagement with the pick-up member afterthe marking operation is complete, whereby said marking element isreturned toits raised position above the disk..

6*. Arr inclination indicatonas;setforthin claim 4,.,togeth'e1fwithatimingmechanism for control..- ling the: magnet-moving; meansf. whereby:they marking: elementimay be releasedf tof'perform the markiifigyoperation at a desired predetermined time. Y

17;. An inclination indicating; device: including, al casing adaptedtobe lowered through. a; Well bore, a record disk mounted in the lowerportion o'fltheV casing, a longitudinally mnvablermarking: elementabove. the disk and adapted; to lmove downwardly into engagementtherewith to. mark the same, means for mounting said elementi to undergouniversal movement within the;vv casing whereby' its: position relativeto theicenteriof .the disleisl controlled by {,frfaizity;Amagnetlefmeanact ing upon. the elementifor normallyV lwlding themarking'element above' and. spacedfrnm the disk, means for removing: theelementfrom the mage netio influence of said' magnet: Wherebysaid elec-REFERENCES; CITED.

The following references are of "record inthe of vthis' patent:

iurlilfrizin STATES PATENTS,

N-mioer' Name o Date 1,977,630' Hester' T lOct. `23,` 1934 i FOREIGNPATENTS Y CountryA Date 191,891; .Germany v -n n--- Apr.. 28; 19082285iA Great 'Britain -Febk5; 1906

